Too Scarred to be Beautiful

For the past few posts, we've been really diving into the topic of not letting our outside appearance define our inner beauty. 
But what happens when we feel that our inside is the problem, and it's our hearts that are affecting what we see on the outside? 
What happens when we feel that our insides are
worthless, ugly, and scarred? 


I know that everyone out there reading this has a story.
I'm sure everyone of us has been though things that have 
cut, bruised, and scarred our hearts. This could be because of... 
bullying, peer pressure, verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or mean comments; the list could go on and on and on. 
I bet everyone can think back to an incident or time in the past, and remember the damage that was done because... 
your mom called you worthless, or a mean girl said you were too different to be in the club, or a teacher called you stupid, or a parent hit you. 
I bet you remember that moment vividly even if it was from a long time ago. I know I can remember mean things that were done to me, and said about me in the fourth grade.
  
So now, we are faced with this problem: I feel ugly on the inside, so that's what I see on the outside. 


Take heart. Do not be discouraged. There is hope here. When we think about the things inside of us that are hurting, and when we take a look at our scars; we tend to feel hopeless.

But God says no. 
I say no.
You have to say no.
No, You are NOT 
              worthless, or stupid, or ugly, or unloveable.
You might have been hurt.
You might still be hurting. 
You might have scars from horrible things that have happened to you,
but those scars do NOT define who you are.
You are more than scars. 
You are more than the negative things that have happened to you. 
You are more than the comments and insults that have been said to you!
You are beautiful. Your heart is beautiful. 


Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, 

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."

It's your time.

It is your time to rise above the scars. 

It is your time to heal. 

I know it's scary. I know that sometimes we don't ever think we can heal. But healing is a process, and it starts with wanting. It starts with wanting to heal. 

If you need outside help to start healing, whether that be 

- talking it out with a friend, family member, spouse, or professional

- keeping a journal

- facing your fears

- forgiving yourself, or people who have hurt you

- or finding a church 

I pray you go seek it. I am rooting for you! I am on your team! I know that you can heal from anything you have been though. 

Jesus came for the hurting. There are so many times in the Bible that Jesus is referred to as a healer. All we need to do is cry out, and lift our hands up. 

"Some people see scars, and it is a wounding they remember. To me, they are proof of the fact that there is healing."

~Linda Hogan

   

Pic 4!

"There is an inner beauty about a woman who believes in herself, who knows she is capable of anything that she puts her mind to. There is beauty in the strength and determination of a woman who follows her own path, who isn't thrown off by obstacles along the way. There is a beauty about a woman whose confidence comes from experiences; who knows she can fall, pick herself up, and move on."

The Root of the Problem!

Self-worth; the root of the problem.  
       This is a big one. Self-worth, at its very core, is defined as how much value you have for yourself. 
         I think that as girls and women, this is our biggest problem. I don't think we have enough self-worth, or maybe we just measure it wrong.


There was a point in my life where I started to realize more and more that I put a lot of my value on my looks. I was measuring my own worth by how "hot" I thought I was on that particular day. I was letting the mirror define my own worth. I was letting my outside dictate how I felt about my inside. 
I think a lot of girls do that...
                                                   I think we do that a lot.
We tend to value ourselves based on how we think we look, or how others think we look. I think this is our downfall. So let's dig into this idea little more, what do we use to measure our worth? That was the first question I had to ask myself;
 Am I measuring myself on how intelligent I am? 
Am I measuring myself on how kind I am? 
Am I measuring myself on how much of a great friend I am?


Or am I measuring myself on how hot I think I am? 
Am I measuring myself on how many guys look at me?
Am I measuring myself on how cliques look at me? 

You have more to offer than
                   looks, popularity, or attention from guys.
These three things evolve around what we look like. Sometimes we tend to value our looks over our personality. Sometimes we measure our self-worth on things that have nothing to do with us as a person.  
You have more to offer than looks! 

As a matter of fact, you have a LOT more to offer than perfect skin, eyebrows, nose, hair, boobs, butt, waistline, shoes, cloths, makeup, and hight. 

You are creative!

You are strong!

You are intelligent!

You are musical!

You are kind!

You are athletic!

You have far more to offer this world than your outside shell! 

You have more to offer than what you see looking back at you in the mirror. 

What you see in the mirror is not, I repeat NOT who you are.

Don't let the mirror, and societies standards dictate who you are as a person. 

I am MORE than what I look like, and so are you. 
In this new year, maybe we can make a resolution to increase our self-worth, and measure it on things that are important to our hearts.
I prayed and thought about this a lot, and I think there are a 3 ways that TOGETHER we can achieve this! 

1. We can start valuing personality traits in others, not just their looks. I bet that if I complimented someone on their kindness, it would mean more than if I said, "You have nice hair."
2. We have to stop comparing ourselves to people we think are better looking. As women we do that a lot, but it only makes us feel bad. How can we work on self-worth when were too busy comparing?
3. WE NEED TO STOP THE NEGATIVE SELF TALK! We need to stop this. I know this is SUPER corny, and people say to do it ALL the time, but it REALLY works! Every time you think something negative about yourself, say THREE positive things about yourself! :) 

Together I know we can achieve this! If you try any of these tips and it worked OR you have some tips of your own *PLEAE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT ON THE BOTTOM OR E-MAIL

 g4gyourebeautiful1@gmail.com!

Pic 3 and Beautiful Music Video

This picture was sent to me by my beautiful and amazing friend Anna Marie! Thank you Anna Marie!

While walking though Target one afternoon, I saw another beautiful person, Catherine, from my church. She told me about this great song called "Beautiful For Me" by Nichole Nordeman from the Veggie Tales movie "Sweetpea Beauty." She began to explain that the chorus is sung from Gods perspective; Gods perspective of us. When I herd this song it touched my heart, and I hope it touches yours as well!  

If you feel lead, or would like to share something about inner beauty, what you think of G4G, your own story, or even a quote, picture, song I would LOVE to hear from you! Please feel free to comment below or e-mail g4gyourebeautiful1@gmail.com


Picture was given to me by a friend off Google images, link connected to picture is
 http://yvampirelim.blogspot.com/2010/12/smile-you-are-beautiful.html#comment-form

Girl POWER

You know what makes me crazy more than almost anything else in this world?
When "girl power" is defined as a woman who has some sort of "sexual power." 
I just looked up "Girl Power" to see if I could find an inspiring picture to put at the bottom of this blog. Cute right? Who doesn't like an inspiring picture? I personally love inspiring pictures! On my search, I came across "Power Girl" and I thought, "Oh this is great! I would love to have something like Power Girl on the blog!"
But when I clicked on the link, I found this...

Really? This is Power Girl and Super Girl?
I'm not saying that her character isn't bold, or strong. I'm not saying she's totally, and completely horrible, but why does she need to be "sexy" to be be powerful? Isn't her superhero strength, and superhero character good enough?


I think that today, as girls and women, we have this idea that being sexy gives us power. 
We sometimes feel that when we look good, and get attention for it, that we are some how powerful. This is true even when we watch TV shows; isn't the most powerful, popular girl always the "prettiest" one?

Looks do not equal power. 
Power is when a girl stands up and says, "I'm leaving, you can't hit me anymore."
Power is when a girl turns off an sexually explicit, or degrading music video. 
Power is when a girl says, "I'm not going to believe what this magazine says about my hair, or body."
Power is when a girl says, "Yes, I'm going to go for this opportunity even though I'm scared."


Power comes from within. 


YOU have power over what you think about yourself.
YOU have the power to be confident this 2012!
Men do not have power over you!
Magazine do not have power over you!
Mean people don't have power over you!


Incase any hasn't told you,
                                           you are powerful.


"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." ~Alice Walker